Here's Five: Beastwars

Wellington heavy metal outfit Beastwars are joining forces with Napier post-rock trio Jakob this month for a four-date joint tour of the country. The unmissable match up comes off-the back of Jakob releasing their long-awaited and critically acclaimed third album Sines late last year, which saw the three-piece jetting to Europe for a series of live shows. In the meantime, Beastwars have been slaving away writing material for their own third album which will follow up from their incredible 2013 sophomore album Blood Becomes Fire.

The as-yet-untitled record will be laid down during the five days between the South and North Island leg of the tour, so showgoers will no doubt be treated to some brand new riff-heavy tunes from the four-piece. Keen to get a little insight into what to expect from the new record, UnderTheRadar asked guitarist Clayton Anderson to choose five songs that have influenced his contribution to the upcoming album... 

1. Chelsea Wolfe – Dragged Out (from her new album Abyss)
Beastwars love Chelsea Wolfe and we really love the production of this album. The producer, John Congleton, has done a superb job at creating a very atmospheric, dark, record that has a bad-arse bass tone to rival our own.

2. The Verve – Gravity Grave (Verve EP)
Matt and I are big Verve fans – particularly of their earlier, more psychedelic, material. This video is from their 1993 Glastonbury performance where they played a 9-minute version of this song, 'Gravity Grave'. In one of our songs we try to create our own version of this type of jam out.

3. Red Fang – Throw Up (Murder The Mountain)
We’re big fans of Red Fang and had the honour of touring with them earlier in the year. This song blew me away every night they played it. I remember raving to the guys how amazing and heavy the breakdown, and then pay-off riff, was towards the end of the song (4’40” onwards) – it sent chills down my spine.

4. Massive Attack – Paradise Circus (Heligo Land)
When working on demos of a couple of our new songs, on my computer, I experimented with adding extra layers to the drum tracks – ideas that Nato, our drummer, can take or leave (not sure whether hand claps would ever make it into a Beastwars song but, hey, worth a try!). This song, 'Paradise Circus', from Massive Attack’s last album was the inspiration for me to give it crack.

5. The Cure – Edge Of The Deep Green Sea
The Cure would have to be my favourite band and certainly one that I take a great deal of inspiration from. While Beastwars is classed as a heavy metal band you’ll hear bits and pieces of The Cure in parts of my guitar playing (more sub-conscious than blatant). I’m no Steve Vai, and never will be, but The Cure showed me a well-crafted melodic line can have the same, if not better, affect as a blazing solo.

Beastwars and Jakob have four shows around the country coming up, kicking off this Friday 2nd October at the Allen Street Rock Club. Head over here for more information and to buy tickets.